


Orange Juice on a Summer's Afternoon

by SugarDarling13



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bad Parent Tomoe Tsurugi, Bisexual Kagami Tsurugi, Gen, Mentioned Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Or romantic?, POV Kagami Tsurugi, Platonic Marigami, Post-Episode: s03 Ikari Gozen, if you want it to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarDarling13/pseuds/SugarDarling13
Summary: Post-Ikari Gozen!After numerous attempts at befriending Marinette, and her mother's akumatization, Kagami is finally able to hit her target by having orange juice with Marinette on a summer's afternoon.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Orange Juice on a Summer's Afternoon

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is basically the orange juice meeting that Kagami and Marinette had offscreen in Ikari Gozen.

The warmth of the afternoon sun scorched down on the two teenage girls as they walked alongside Canal Saint Martin. Kagami could feel sweat beading down her neck as Marinette mused on about her whereabouts during the attack. She had a benevolent glisten in her blue eyes, her hands flapped in every direction possible, and she spoke with quite a shrill voice. It was much squeakier than what Kagami was used to. Usually, the people she spoke too were quite timid and monotonous in tone; formal and easy to read, but Marinette was quite the opposite. Her voice held this screeching intensity to it, but it was soft and warm at the same time. Kagami wasn’t exactly sure whether she found it strange or charming.

“…and as soon as Ladybug was done with her cure. The tree was put into place and I was free to move again. I came back here to check up on you to see whether you were okay or not.” Marinette had finally come to the end of her lengthy explanation. It could’ve been much shorter without so much ramble in between but Kagami decided against pointing that out.

“That’s thoughtful of you.” She merely nodded in response giving the pigtailed girl a small smile, one which Marinette returned gleefully. She took that as a good sign, she did it right this time, instead of those awkward smiles earlier on today. It took some time, but she managed to figure it out, that wasn’t how normal people smiled.

“Look! Here’s the place!” Marinette came to an abrupt halt, her smile as cheerful as ever, popping her leg behind her, she pointed towards the little café on the other side of the road. Her body language was expressive and open, some of the little gestures she made were quite foreign to Kagami. She was used to stiff, straightforward, and formal. Not girly, mousy, and cute.

“Shall we?” Marinette offered her arm to Kagami, which she recognized as a friendly gesture, and gladly accepted it, buckling her own arm with Marinette’s to cross the road.

When they approached the café, Marinette dragged them off to a table outdoors perched on the edge, making the Notre Dame more visible to the duo. Seeing how hot it was, it was definitely a better choice to sit outside. She doubted whether this café had air conditioning or fans, not many places in Paris did, or so she discovered in these past few months.

She unbuckled her arm from Marinette’s and checked the cleanliness of the table, she’d never actually gone inside a simple café like this.

“I’ll go get some orange juice for us from inside, whilst you save the table.” Marinette suggested, already turning towards the entrance.

“I can get my own orange juice.” Kagami turned around to tell her.

For a second, a glimpse of uncertainty brushed over Marinette’s face before it withered away, warmly smiling at Kagami.

“No, it’s okay. Consider this as a friendly favour. After all you’ve gone through today, it’s only fair if I order the juices for both of us.”

“So…ordering me juice is a friendly gesture?” Kagami asked quirking her brow.

“Yes.” Marinette reassured. “Besides, one of us should save a table just in case. I’ll be back soon.”

Kagami nodded as Marinette walked away. She looked after her with the feeling that she was forgetting something…

“Wait!” She rushed towards her right before she could go through.

Marinette turned her head in surprise, stepping away from the doorway.

“Yes?”

“I’d just like to say…” Kagami attempted to give her another small smile. “Thank you.”

With those few words, a light chuckle escaped Marinette’s lips, making Kagami tilt her head in confusion. Was it normal for people to laugh when you thank them?

“It’s no biggie at all! That’s what friends do. You didn’t have to come all the way here for a thank you.” Marinette grinned at Kagami.

“I didn’t?”

“Nope. Like I said, I’m your friend. You don’t have to feel obliged to say thank you all the time.”

“Oh...” Kagami felt heat tickle her cheeks at the thought of being able to drop her formal poise around Marinette. She wasn’t really used to that. Marinette was letting her in, after the strange turn of events today, she hadn’t expected it, but this was turning out to be much better than anticipation.

“I better get inside and order us some juice. We don’t have much time to spare.” Marinette’s words were a reminder to the fact that she had to go back to meet her mother eventually, she wasn’t too keen with Kagami making friends, but at least she had let her stay longer today.

Marinette went inside to order some juice and Kagami sat by the table waiting for her to come by. She was going over the friendship advice app to see whether she had been effective at following all the appropriate steps today. She believed that she did pretty well in being confident enough to make the first move. Self-assurance never had been much of a problem to her. She figured that she really needed to work on eye-contact, smiling and compliments. And then there was working on conversation starters and engaging in small talk. Marinette didn’t seem too keen about discussing blood types and chocolate ice cream flavours…

Kagami sighed as she checked off making the first move and being confident, the latter list of unchecked boxes were stirring a bad feeling in her stomach. She figured that she really needed to look up better conversation topics to talk about. Perhaps she could try them on Marinette…when they met next…assuming that she wanted to see her. Kagami still had a long way to go. It frustrated her that making friends was so difficult.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Marinette approached the table with a tray that carried two glasses of juice: one was orange whilst the other was lemonade. Kagami quickly put her phone away.

“Just texting my mother to let her know I’ll be there in about twenty minutes or so.”

“Ah.” Marinette said, she placed the tray on the table, and propped herself on a chair beside Kagami. “Here’s the orange juice. I figured I’d get myself some lemonade instead.”

Kagami opened her mouth to thank her but was wary about their previous interaction, instead she took the glass attempting another grin. She hoped it didn’t look too forced. She figured the trick was not to show much teeth whilst smiling. It seemed easier to smile without baring teeth anyways.

Marinette took the other glass and raised it in the air exuberantly. “To Friendship Day!”

Kagami returned the gesture and repeated the same phrase. “To Friendship Day!”

They knocked their glasses together before taking a sip from their straws.

“Mmmm” Marinette hummed. “It’s nice to drink some juice on a very hot day, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it really is.” This was the first time she was drinking juice with a friend. It really was nice.

“Do you want to take a picture together?” Marinette asked. “You know, to celebrate Friendship Day in…er…making new friends?”

“Sure.” Kagami nodded. She was trying to keep her face neutral, but she was in fact, ecstatic, to take a picture with Marinette.

“Cool!”

They placed their glasses on the table and Marinette dug through her purse to get her phone out. After fiddling with it, she stretched her arm out in order to capture the perfect angle for the shot, and she nudged her chair slightly closer towards Kagami.

“Make sure you smile.”

Kagami faced the camera with quite a neutral expression, she did a little peace sign with her fingers, something she always wanted to do, but never grabbed the opportunity to do so.

Marinette managed to snap a couple of shots of them and she brought her phone closer to look at the pictures.

“They’re lovely.” Kagami said with a bubble of pride surging inside her. She managed to do two friendly activities in a day: drinking juice together and taking a picture with a friend. The pictures came out quite well too. Marinette had a bubbly smile on her face the entire time, and she didn’t look too bad either. The Notre Dame was also visible from the corner of their photo quite well.

“I know.” Marinette replied with a euphoric tone. “I guess this makes up for not being able to take a picture during the game, huh?”

“I don’t really mind that.” Kagami stated. Not taking a picture during the game was the least of her concerns right now. “But I’m glad I was able to take a picture with you.”

“Me too.” Marinette chirped. “You don’t mind if I post this on my Instagram, don’t you?”

“I’m fine with it.” Kagami nodded; internally debating whether to ask what her account name was.

“I’m @marinettedesigned by the way. In case, you want to check it out, it’s pretty basic though.” It appeared that Marinette answered her question already.

“Ah…yes…I think Adrien has mentioned you quite a few times in his posts.”

“Oh! Yeah…yes…” Marinette said with a bashful chuckle, turning her head to the side, the redness in her cheeks was unmistakable by the comment.

Considering Marinette’s confusing feelings about Adrien, it might’ve not been a good idea to mention that.

“So…” Marinette pondered, turning to face her once again. “Do you have an account?”

Kagami was grateful for a change in topic. “Nope. My mother would never allow that. But I’m still able to view the pictures.”

“Wow…you can view photos on Insta without an account? Never knew that.”

“Yes, but it only shows you the most recent pictures. If you scroll too far ahead, there’s a notification that says you need to login or signup to view more.”

“Okay…at least, you’re able to still view pictures in some form.”

“I don’t check it that often anyways. Only sometimes if there’s anything important.” Kagami continued to say. “I usually don’t have time to do much stuff except fencing. My mother makes me practice a lot outside class.”

“Really? How long do you need to practice fencing in a day?”

“About six hours.”

“Six hours?” Marinette repeated astounded. “That’s a lot! Don’t you ever get tired?”

“It’s not continuous. Two hours in the morning. Two hours after lunch. And two hours in the evening. On days, I have classes, it’s five hours, that sixth hour being counted as the lesson.”

“Still, must be tiring, what about school?”

“I’m home-schooled. It’s not much of a problem to me. My mother believes a good fencer is ready to face any challenge regardless of how strenuous it is.”

“Not giving up is a good mindset to keep…but…” Marinette slightly hesitated; her gaze drifted to her pink purse. “It’s important to…take a break…you could end up pushing yourself too far.”

“I try.” Kagami responded; a bit confused about Marinette’s change in body language. If eye-contact was key in communication, why was she looking away?

Before she could ponder or question it further, a familiar sound buzzed through the air.

Kagami sighed, reaching for her phone, she looked at Marinette, trying to hide the disappointment in her face.

“I have to go.” Kagami told her. Finishing the last few sips of orange juice, she pulled out some money from her pocket. “Here’s the money I owe you for buying me juice.”

Marinette looked up at her in surprise, her mouth flew agape at the sight of the money. She pushed Kagami’s hands away in protest. “No! No! It was a favour. It’s alright. You don’t have to pay me back. It was just orange juice.”

“But- “

“No buts! We’re friends, I insist.”

Kagami contemplated what to say. On one hand, Marinette was being nice and friendly to her. On the other hand, she could feel something yelling at her for depending on Marinette. It sounded a lot like her mother’s voice. Going on about how a young lady should always learn to be independent to pave their way through life.

It didn’t help that Marinette had this fire in her eyes looking so determined and stubborn. This streak of stubbornness was rather odd, as Kagami never thought it was possible, she was used to indecisive, bubbly, and messy Marinette. But the way she was looking at her right now was stubbornness in its rawest form. Something she was struggling to fight.

“Fine.” Kagami pressed her lips together, putting the money away. Marinette’s face relaxed and the fire was gone as quickly as it came. “But the next time we’re getting orange juice, I’m paying.”

“Next time, huh?” A smirk paved its way to Marinette’s lips. “So, you’d like to meet again.”

Playfulness. It was a common form of communication between friends. She had only ever been playful with Adrien. It took some time…actually…but Marinette being playful on the first day they became friends was definitely was a good sign.

“If you want to.” Kagami replied, her tone was amused, she didn’t go in for the smirk because that would be too much for her.

“Well…” Marinette playfully quirked her brows. “If we’re going to meet again, we definitely need to communicate somehow…”

Kagami listened in interest. She was being vague, but her tone was playful yet friendly.

“…I was thinking…” She reached inside her purse to pull out a piece of folded paper. “You should have my number. So, we could talk at any time.”

When Marinette’s tone softened, Kagami gawked at the piece of folded paper in her hands, fighting hard to keep her face neutral. She looked at Marinette, who was giving her a soft smile.

“Thank you, Marinette.” Kagami managed to smile. A genuine smile. She took the paper from Marinette’s hands. “I really enjoyed spending time with you. I hope we can meet again.”

“I hope so too.” Marinette gave her an assuring nod. And gently patted her on the shoulder, it was much less awkward than what Kagami had given her in the morning. She noted that the key to a good shoulder pat was to be gentle but quick, like Marinette had done.

Kagami parted with the girl with a quick wave, which she had returned. It would have been odd to think that Kagami would’ve been able to become friends with Marinette this morning. But surprisingly she’d done it. All it took was a messed-up friendship game, an akuma and orange juice on a summer’s afternoon.


End file.
